Retail Technology Show report - Paul Wilkinson talks innovation learnings from stints at Amazon, Tesco Labs, Deliveroo
Retail Technology Show 2023 kicked off in London today, with one of the first conference sessions consisting of a fireside chat with Paul Wilkinson, Group Product Manager - Grocery Partners, Deliveroo, entitled What I’ve Learnt About Retail Innovation From Working At Amazon, Tesco Labs And Deliveroo.
Responding to the question, what advice would you give retailers looking to achieve an innovation mindset?, Wilkinson responded: “Carve out plenty of time for your team to work on it. Give them space to do innovation.”
He added: “They also have to stay close to the business. Tesco Labs was in the retailer’s main campus. Don’t set up a trendy office in, say, Shoreditch.”
Retailers should also prioritise ruthlessly. “You might do ten things a year, but if one of those succeeds then you have won,” Wilkinson commented.
“Have space for failure,” he continued. “And pick what will have the biggest impact for customers. Will it also save the business money or make it money?”
Companies should think in the longest possible timeframe.
Tesco, for instance, has been working with Israeli startup Trigo on a series of autonomous stores. “Trigo is a long game thing as, when I was at Tesco, we knew that it would have a huge impact.”
If you don’t do that, then you will be constantly fighting fires, Wilkinson warned.
Trigo
In February, Tesco opened its latest GetGo location, Aston University Express.
Powered by Trigo technology, this is located in Birmingham, the UK’s second largest city.
The university location is the final instalment of Tesco’s announced three autonomous stores deployment throughout the UK, the other sites being Chiswell Street Express in central London, and Fulham Reach Express in Parrs Way, London.
It is the largest autonomous Tesco store to date at over 4,000 square metres.
In an online post, Trigo noted “The location has another distinct quality, its largely student demographic who shop at the store poses a unique use case for autonomous store technology - the seasonal shopper.”
“These features, alongside the store’s hybrid format, make it a classic application of autonomous store technology.”
In a LinkedIn post, dated 16th February, Tom Simmons, Product Manager, GetGo at Tesco, said: “Exciting day yesterday as we switched GetGo on at Aston University Express in Birmingham.”
“We're delighted to take GetGo to a new part of the country as this is our first store outside of London/South East. Lots of positive feedback on day one, looking forward to hearing more from our customers over the coming weeks/months.”
RTIH Top 100 Retail Technology Influencers List
Wilkinson is included in the latest edition of the RTIH Top 100 Retail Technology Influencers List.
This brings you the people who made a splash in 2022 and are set for a barnstorming 2023.
RTIH has scoured the retail technology world to find the most influential figures for this comprehensive list of people and trends that shape the industry and help drive it forward.
We’re living in unprecedented times.
The Covid-19 outbreak has driven a seismic change in shopping habits, with checkout free stores, automation in the supply chain, rapid delivery services, and the metaverse making waves.
Such disruption requires new ways of problem solving and thought leaders who can both evangelise and execute on the likes of digital transformation and omnichannel success.
Which is where the RTIH Top 100 Retail Technology Influencers List comes in, presented, we should stress, in no particular order.
Check it out here.
Continue reading…